DVAC raids 100 government offices for festive ‘gifts’, sends reports to departments

CHENNAI: Over the past week, officials of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) swept in to curb bribery in state government offices, which receive large quantities of ‘gifts’ around Diwali. Simultaneous DVAC raids at transport, police, registration and revenue offices set the cat among the pigeons.
Trucks filled with festive goodies were redirected to orphanages after panic over the raids set in. As per DVAC report, they conducted several rounds of searches based on tip-offs. A senior DVAC officer said, “We received tips from various quarters and conducted searches in almost 100 places in the past one week. We seized close to Rs 1 crore in the raids.”

“We have forwarded detailed reports to various departments concerned for permission to initiate corruption proceedings against staff from whom unaccounted money was seized,” he added.

The DVAC officials have also shared specific details about the huge seizure of money with their colleagues in the income tax department. A senior police officer said, “We reacted at the right time after we were given the go ahead for our searches as the inputs came in in the last minute in some cases.”

Sources said, two trucks loaded with fireworks and sweet boxes in transit on Kamarajar Salai off Marina Beach were redirected to slum clearance board tenements after news of the raids went out. In yet another incident, a van carrying sweets and crackers delivered from a leading hospital in Teynampet was redirected to an orphanage near Guindy, as a ‘surprise’ gift for its imates.

In Coimbatore, a vehicle carrying sweets and gift boxes headed to revenue office in Coimbatore was redirected to an orphanage near Sundarapuram off Coimbatore-Tiruppur road. The series of searches has restricted many government officials from taking gifts directly.